The R2 Standard is the leading certification for electronics repair and reuse. As the housing body for R2, SERI maintains the R2 Standard, related documentation, guidance, and facilitates its ongoing development.

SERI works with partners throughout the lifecycle of electronic products to ensure that they are managed responsibly. SERI's programs focus on education, outreach, safety, and international development.

SERI offers a variety of educational and training opportunities for recyclers, as well as opportunities for auditors and consultants. These trainings focus on implementing the R2 Standard, realizing a return on the investment in certification, discussing relevant issues or challenges related to recycling practices, and other topics.

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SERI will be hosting two pre-conference workshops at the upcoming e-Scrap conference in New Orleans. There is no cost to attend either workshop but registration is requested. Click here workshop descriptions.

The Basel Action Network is conducting a tracking study which found that an e-Stewards certified company exported used electronics to Hong Kong. (Exporting to Hong Kong violates the e-Stewards standard because Hong Kong is not an OECD country.) More certified companies, including R2 companies, will be implicated in the study as having violated the requirements of their respective standards.

Fundamental to the R2 Standard is the emphasis on reuse as the best approach to managing electronics. Reuse extends the useful life of electronics, thereby reducing the environmental impact of manufacturing new products. In addition to the widely recognized environmental benefits, reuse also provides economic and social benefits by bridging the digital divide with affordable electronics – particularly in emerging markets. In many regions of the world, the technology boom of the past decade has been fueled in large part by access to affordable used electronics.

As discussed in last month’s newsletter, all R2 certifying body auditors will be required to complete the new R2 Auditor Training course by August 10, 2017. Details for the first session have been finalized:

Many recyclers use transportation brokers to arrange carriers to transport their materials. This can be a cost effective way to find carriers traveling routes you use infrequently or need on short notice. Since they are not contracting directly with the carrier, however, they are essentially outsourcing the Provision 12(b) due diligence requirements to the broker. Consequently, they must implement a process to qualify a broker to ensure it conducts due diligence regarding these requirements on their behalf. The process of qualifying a broker includes:

One of the ways in which the R2 Certification program exercises oversight and quality control of the auditing process is by specifying the amount of time Certification Bodies (CBs) must add for reviewing a recycler’s downstream recycling chain. The time requirements, which are found in the R2 Code of Practices (Section V.C.3), are based on the number of downstream vendors, complexity and whether the downstream vendors are R2 Certified. The R2 Code of Practices requires tha

There have been questions raised recently about the acceptability of the disposal of CRT glass in landfills by R2 Certified facilities or their downstream vendors. The confusion centers on states which allow the landfill of CRT glass, but do not require it. These are currently California (hazardous waste only) and Illinois. While these states allow landfill to count as “recycling” in state sponsored or producer responsibility program, the R2 Standard still prohibits the landfill of CRT Glass. To be clear, landfilling of CRT glass does not conform to the R2 Standard. This includes the p

SERI will be launching a new training program for all R2 auditors beginning this July. The enhanced training developed by SERI will further efforts to ensure consistent R2 Standard interpretation and auditing techniques. The course will focus on a practical approach to auditing and will incorporate case studies, videos, interactive tools, and discussions to provide new and existing auditors with the guidance they need to audit to R2:2013 effectively and efficiently. Competency exams will also be part of the program.

The Circular Economy is an idea that has been steadily gaining ground over the past few years. Surging population growth and a growing global middle class have fueled an increasing demand for goods that is rapidly depleting the world’s limited supply of natural resources. Our current economic model of “take, make, use and throw away” is not sustainable – which has given rise to a new model that is redefining how we think of “waste” and changing the way products and materials are managed throughout their life cycle. In short, the

While the R2 Standard prescribes objective requirements for downstream vendors, it cannot determine the credibility of the information provided. It is the responsibility of each company to assess the information collected from downstream vendors, or from observations made during onsite visits, to determine if the recycler is qualified. It is not enough to simply gather information, you also need to determine whether it is logical and credible.

The R2 Standard is the leading certification for electronics repair and reuse. As the housing body for R2, SERI maintains the R2 Standard, related documentation, guidance, and facilitates its ongoing development.

SERI works with partners throughout the lifecycle of electronic products to ensure that they are managed responsibly. SERI's programs focus on education, outreach, safety, and international development.

SERI offers a variety of educational and training opportunities for recyclers, as well as opportunities for auditors and consultants. These trainings focus on implementing the R2 Standard, realizing a return on the investment in certification, discussing relevant issues or challenges related to recycling practices, and other topics.